Today's Entertainment

September 21 - 27, 2015 Page 3 ACROSS 1. Reality series (2) 8. Long, long time 9. Actor Morales 10. "NCIS: New Orleans" actor (2) 14. __ up; support from underneath 15. Mr. DeLuise 16. Author Stevenson's monogram 17. Wilder or Hackman 18. Emilio Estevez's nation of birth: abbr. 19. Info on an envelope: abbr. 20. Run fast 24. Monogram for poet/ author Holmes 27. __ Fitzgerald 28. "Semi-__"; Will Ferrell movie 29. Ruby or Sandra 32. "__ __ Apart"; 2003 Vin Diesel film 33. "Dancing With the Stars" personality (2) 36. __-do-well; bum 37. Express pent-up frustration 38. Role on "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." (2) DOWN 1. Current season for "Scorpion" 2. 1978 Burt Reynolds movie 3. "The Atom __ Show" (1965-68) 4. "The A-__" 5. "__ This Old House" 6. Island nation in the Pacific Ocean 7. "Machete __"; 2013 Danny Trejo movie 8. __ __ as a beet 11. Initials for the star of "Who's the Boss?" 12. Derek, for one 13. "Life __ __ House"; 2001 Kevin Kline film 14. Golfers' group, for short 20. More precious 21. Nut variety 22. Incline 23. __ Solo; character in the "Star Wars" movies 24. __ for; select 25. "She Done Him __"; Mae West film 26. Character on "The Simpsons" 29. Actor Bruce __ 30. Series for Laura Innes, once 31. Actor Marshall 34. Arthur, for one 35. Name on Zsa Zsa's family tree Solution on page 2. By Jay Bobbin © Zap2it If you've ever won- dered about the back- stage lives of Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy, you're in luck. The late Jim Henson's beloved characters are returning to television on a regular basis, but in a slightly different way than before ... in a series that shows them away from performing, allowing their trademark sly humor to be put to new use. ABC debuts "The Muppets" Tuesday, Sept. 22, and the gang's all here — albeit with a possibly distressing twist that be- came known during the summer: Kermit and Pig- gy are a couple no more. And allegedly, Kermit already has moved on, to an ABC marketing exec- utive named Denise. "It's an interesting thing that's going on here," ex- plains Kermit ... seriously (with his voice supplied by Steve Whitmire). "Ac- tually, the Muppets are doing a late-night chat show with Miss Piggy called 'Up Late with Miss Piggy.' And Bill and Bob (executive producers Prady and Kushell) came along with this wonderful idea to shoot behind the scenes, and they are pro- ducing that (backstage) show. It's interesting and scary at the same time, because you get to see things that we wouldn't normally, necessarily want you to see." Miss Piggy concurs with that, though she maintains (via the voice of Eric Jacobson) that she isn't "afraid of any pitfalls that come with stardom. I invite the pit- falls, you know. As long as I'm not the one who falls into them. Any kind of attention is good pub- licity, so sure, I'm proud we're broken up." For any Muppet tension accompanying the end of that great romance, scheduled guest stars including Reese Wither- spoon, Josh Groban, Eliz- abeth Banks, Jay Leno, Laurence Fishburne, Liam Hemsworth, Lea Thomp- son, Tom Bergeron and music's Imagine Dragons may help allay it. In that sense, the new series emulates the structure of the classic, syndicated "Muppet Show" (1976- 81), but Prady — who started his career with Henson and the Muppets, and has enjoyed success as co-creator and execu- tive producer (with Chuck Lorre) of CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" — is quick to note the modern differ- ences. "If you look at 'The Muppet Show,' " he says, "it mocks variety shows because that was the dominant form of televi- sion at the time. And it struck me that if the Mup- pets were on television now, it would be ... I don't know if 'parody' is the correct word, but it would look at the way television is done now and say, 'Well, what's the Muppet version of that?' " Indeed, "The Muppets" is that world's take on the reality-show boom, com- plete with cinema-ver- ite-type shots. Fozzie Bear, Gonzo, Animal, the Swedish Chef and Rowlf the Dog (who has a his- tory with ABC, having been a regular on "The Jimmy Dean Show" some 50 years ago) are among other familiar characters participating. ABC Entertainment president Paul Lee notes he hasn't been "sitting all my life thinking my job is to get the Muppets onto the American Broadcast- ing Company," but he adds, "We fell in love with 'The Muppets' because it was a new take ... be- cause the idea of making fun of documentaries where you once made fun of variety shows seems incredibly fresh." As for how he'll cope with the new style, Kermit believes, "You're going to learn, whatever happens. You know, it's a day-by- day, moment-by-moment process." And as for having to share it with his now-former flame? "it can be tough to work with your ex," he reasons. "Especial- ly when your ex is a pig." Miss Piggy "stars" in "The Muppets," premiering Tuesday on ABC. CoverStory The Muppets take ABC as new backstage series begins DON'T STAY DON'T STAY … IN THE DARK. CALL 574-533-2151 OR 800-487-2151 ext. 393 TODAY ! Start your newspaper subscription today and see the light. Stay up to date on all the latest business, entertainment, sports, local news and more! Buffet 7 Days A Week! OR Order off our menu Homemade Pies 1403 E. Market • Nappanee • 574.773.0436 Mon.-Sat. 6am - 8pm • Sunday 7am - 2pm Solution on page 2

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